Denbigh's 2018
honorary mayor
Mabel nelson
A true Denbigh native, Mabel Nelson still lives where she grew up and spent her professional life. That’s within range of the sound of the marching bands at the annual Denbigh Day parade! She was part of Denbigh High School’s very first graduating class in 1967. As a child and teenager, she also attended Denbigh Elementary, Ferguson High School, and Warwick River Christian School.
Keen to become a teacher, she prepared for that career and graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 1972. She also did work toward a master’s degree from Regent University.
Mabel nurtured a lifelong passion for the school she had attended as a child. From 1970 and until retirement in 2015, she devoted her work to Warwick River Christian School, both as teacher of grades K-6 and as principal for many of those years. Former students, families, and fellow teachers tell stories of Mabel’s professional skills and personal compassion and sense of humor. Some of those stories involve baby goats frisking around the room on Pet Day, as well as missing teddy bears showing up at a Teddy Bear Picnic out on the lawn. Prayerful caring for each individual student and staff member was one of her gifts.
Mabel was born in Newport News to Arlie and Mabel Cunningham Bennett. She has a brother Robert with wife Verda and three sons Jim, Joe, and Jerry. As a teenager visiting relatives in Whitmer, WV, Mabel met a blue-eyed man who had come to pick up a horse. The horse apparently had to wait for a few hours, while Harry Nelson and Mabel Bennet fell in love. The two were married in 1972. Sixteen years later, their lives were complete when their daughter Joy Elizabeth was born.
In retirement, Mabel continues to be involved as elder, Christian Education leader, and in Vacation Bible School at Providence Mennonite Church. She loves camping, knitting, and reading. Her interest in photography leads to scrapbooking. She treasures friends and family in her life as she spends time visiting and keeping up with them.
Keen to become a teacher, she prepared for that career and graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 1972. She also did work toward a master’s degree from Regent University.
Mabel nurtured a lifelong passion for the school she had attended as a child. From 1970 and until retirement in 2015, she devoted her work to Warwick River Christian School, both as teacher of grades K-6 and as principal for many of those years. Former students, families, and fellow teachers tell stories of Mabel’s professional skills and personal compassion and sense of humor. Some of those stories involve baby goats frisking around the room on Pet Day, as well as missing teddy bears showing up at a Teddy Bear Picnic out on the lawn. Prayerful caring for each individual student and staff member was one of her gifts.
Mabel was born in Newport News to Arlie and Mabel Cunningham Bennett. She has a brother Robert with wife Verda and three sons Jim, Joe, and Jerry. As a teenager visiting relatives in Whitmer, WV, Mabel met a blue-eyed man who had come to pick up a horse. The horse apparently had to wait for a few hours, while Harry Nelson and Mabel Bennet fell in love. The two were married in 1972. Sixteen years later, their lives were complete when their daughter Joy Elizabeth was born.
In retirement, Mabel continues to be involved as elder, Christian Education leader, and in Vacation Bible School at Providence Mennonite Church. She loves camping, knitting, and reading. Her interest in photography leads to scrapbooking. She treasures friends and family in her life as she spends time visiting and keeping up with them.